Splash guard and tile for forming the same



y 1931- I M. STERNBERGH 1,807,107

SPLASH GUARD AND TILE'FOR FORMING THE SAKS Filed April 9. 1930 2Sheets-Sheet 1 May 26, 1931. M. STERNBERGH SPLASH GUARD AND'TILE FORFORMING- THE SAIE Filed April 9, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 if 76 Z] W m wPatented May 26, 1931 PATENT OFFICE.

LAYMAN M. STERNBERGH, F OCEAN GROVE, NEW JERSEY SPLASH GUARD AND TILEFOR FORMING THE SAME Application filed April 9,

This invention relates to a shower bath construction and moreparticularly to a splash guard and tile by means of which the guard maybe constructed.

I At the present time when building a shower bath of the alcove type orof the type in which the shower is an auxiliary to a tub, it iscustomary to provide a curtain in order to prevent water discharged byan overhead nozzle from spraying outwardly onto the floor of a room. Thelower end portion of the curtain either extends down wardly into thetubor back of a ledge across the front of an alcove in order to preventwater dripping from the curtain onto the floor but no provision is madeto prevent water from striking the walls and splashing past side edgesof the curtain. This often causes puddles of water to accumulate on thefloor even if care is taken to properly dispose the lower end of thecurtain.

Therefore, one object of the invention is to provide a splash guardwhich by extending vertically and overlapping the inner surfaces of thecurtain along sides thereof will serve very effectively to prevent waterfrom splashing past side edges of the curtain.

It also very often happens that a person will be badly injured due toslipping and falling when stepping from a tub and, therefore, anotherobjectof the invention is to so form the splash guards for the sideedges of thecurtain that they may also serve as i hand-holds adapted tobe easily grasped and thereby prevent danger of slipping.

, Most bath rooms have the walls faced with tiles in order to impart agood appearance and also prevent damage by water and allow the room tobe easily and thoroughly cleaned. It is, therefore, another object ofthe invention to provide a tile adapted to be applied to a wall in theusual manner and having such construction that when a suitable number ofthese tiles are set in place one above another they serve to form theimproved splash guard.

The invention is illustrated in the accompaying drawings, wherein Figure1 is a perspective view showing the 1930.- Serial No. 442,914.

improved splash guards erected in operative relation to a tub and showercurtain,

F1g. 2 is a top plan view of one of the tiles from whichthe splashguards are formed,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken through adjoining tiles ofaguard on the line 33 of Fig. 2,

' Fig. 4c is a sectional view showing a shower bath of the alcove typeprovided with the improved splash guards,

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of one of the tiles forming the splash guardsshown in Fig. i,

and 1 Fig. 6 is a view in elevation showing adoining portions of asplash guard and floor strip formed in accordance with this inven- InFig. 1, there has shown a tub 1 of a conventional construction extendingbetween oppositely disposed walls of a bath room. A shower nozzle 2projects from one wall over the tub and there has also been provided ashower curtain 3 suspended from a rod 4: so that it may be slid alongthe rod from the folded position illustrated to an extended position foruse in which it extends the full length of the rod with its lower endprojecting downwardly a short distance within the tub. This curtainserves to prevent water easily splashing outwardly from the shower andsince the lower end of the curtain extends into the tub water drippingoff the curtain passes into the tub instead of dripping upon the floor.It has, however, been found that water will often splash against thewalls of the room at the ends of the tub and pass between the walls andside edges of the curtain. This water runs downwardly along the wallsand accumulates in puddles upon the floor. In order to prevent waterfrom passing between the wall and side edges of the shower curtain, Ihave provided splash guards in the form of ribs 5 -which extendvertically at the ends of the tub and project from the walls asuflicient distance to overlap the curtain along its sides. By thisarrangement the ribs or guards will serve very effectively to preventwater from splashing outwardly between the curtain and the wall. 'Anywater at tempting to pass outwardly strikes the inner side faces of theribs and flows downwardly along the rods until it reaches the tub andinstead of forming puddles upon the floor this water will flow into thetub.

Each of the splash guards or ribs 5 consists of a number'of. tiles 6-.These-tiles are appliedto'the wall and secured in theusual manner inwhich tiles are mounted and. each tile consists of a base or bodyportion? which may be square, oblong or of any other desired shape. Anarm 8 projects-outwardly from the base or body portion 7 of the tile toform a section of the completed. rib or splash guard, and by referringto Figure 2 it will be seenthat the arm tapers outwardly for a portionof its depthand is then-'of'an even thicknessfor a short distance andtermina'tes in an enlargedhead or bead 9. By this arrangement the tilesforming the guard maybe set in place against a wall one above anotherand their beadsor headswill form a rail orgrip 1Q adaptedto be graspedso that a person may step from the tubonto the floor of the room withoutdanger of slipping and being injured by a fall. i The 'upperandloweredge faces of the tiles are recessed, as shown at 11. thereby formingpockets adapted' to befilled with cement placed between the tiles as abinder, as shown at' 12in-Figure 3. By this arrangement the tilesforming the guard will be firmly braced against transverse movement andthey will not be liable tobe wrenched loose by a person grasping a'guardand usingthesarne as a-hand rail to prevent slipping.

In Figurel', there has been shown a showerbath of the alcove type. Thisshower bath which is indicated-in general-by th-enumeral 13- has'opposed-walls 14 leading from thewalls 1-5 of the room and attheintersection ofthe walls 14 and 15 it is customary'te use corner til-eshaving curved side flanges in order to form rounded corners-and impart agood appearance.- The corner tiles 16 are similar in construction to thetiles 6, except that they have side flanges or extensions 17-. Amns 18corresponding tothe arms 8 project from the body portions 19 of thesetiles and each arm terminates in an enlarged head or head 20. It willthus be seenthat case the tub is built into an alcove or recess insteadof at one end or side of a room.

In Figure 6, there has been shown another modified construction. tiles24 which are similar in construction to the tiles 6 are set into a floorin order to form an upstanding ledge extending across the frontof analcove shower andtaking the place of the shoulder or ledge and thevertically. extending splash guards are formed by'tiles 25 which may beconstructed eithenas-shown in Figure 2 or as shown in Figure 5. In orderto join the lower end of eachsvertical. splash guard with the adjacentend of the floor ledge, there is employed-a tile 26 formed substantiallythe same as thetiles 24 and25, except thatiit'is substantiallytriangular in=-shape-in orderto fit into a corner and has itsbead27'arouaterinstead of straight so that it merges 1 into the beadsofthe tiles 24" and 25. By' this In this forms arrangement both theverticallyextendin'g being o1 sufiicient depth to overlap" aside portionof the curtain and havingits outer portion formed with a hand grip.

2. The combination with a shower structure including a chamber havingaside wall, and a splash curtain, of a plurality of tiles applied tosaid wall one above another, said t-ileshaving wall engaging portionsand por- 'tIo nsextending outwardly therefrom between their side edgesand forming arms decreasing in thickness towards their free ends, saidarms cooperatingto form a rib projiectiligiirom' the wall and ofsufficient depth to overlap aside portion of'the'curtain andconstitute asplash guard.

23. The combination withv a showerstructure including a chamber havingaside wall, and a splash curtain, of aplurality oftiles appliedto saidwall one above another, -said tiles each having arm extending outwardlytherefrom and. formed with a head at its outer end,the' arms ofsaidtiles cooperating to form a rib constituting arsplash guard adaptedto overlap aside portiontof the curtain, and the heads forming aihandgrip along the .outer'edge of the rib.

4.111 a shower structure, "a chamber: havingopposed side walls, a waterretaining 'wall extending across the floorqof the'chamber between theside walls, a splash curtain extending between the side walls with thewater-retaining wall overlapping the outer face of its lower portion,and. ribs extending vertically upon the side walls and projectingtherefrom to form splash guards adapted to overlap the outer face of thecurtain along side portions thereof.

In a shower structure, a chamber having opposed side walls, awater-retaining wall extending across the floor of the chamber betweenthe side walls, a splash curtain extending between the side walls withthe water-retaining wall overlapping the outer .face of its lowerportion, and ribs extending vertically upon the side walls constitutingsplash guards to overlap said curtain along opposite sides thereof, theribs having their free edge portions thickened transversely to form handgrips.

6. In a shower bath construction, a splash guard consisting of aplurality of tiles disposed one against another and each beingsubstantially T-shaped and having a wall engaging portion and a portionextended outwardly therefrom intermediate its side edges to form an arm,the arms of said tiles contacting in end to end engagement with eachother and cooperating to form the guard.

7. In a shower bath construction, a splash guard consisting ,of aplurality of tiles disposed one against another and each having aportion extended outwardly to form an arm terminating in a thickenedportion forming a bead, the arms cooperating to form a rib and the beadsforming a hand grip along the rib.

8. A splash guard forming tile comprising a body, and an arm extendingoutwardly therefrom and formed with a bead along its free end.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

LAYMAN M. STERNBERGH. [L. 5.]

